BEIJING: The Chinese government is planning to shut down flea markets in cities nationwide to replace them with ghost shopping malls. The new department stores will sell goods and services at sky high prices. For example, a Tommy Hilfiger sweater on sale at the Oriental Department Shopping Plaza in Beijing is sold at the retail price of $5,000 US dollars.

According to China Radio International, "The Beijing Zoo wholesale market will move out of the center of Beijing, confirmed Beijing's Xicheng district government at a press conference on Tuesday. The Xicheng distinct authority said at the conference that the clothing wholesale market will make the transition to become a more profitable clothing retail market; it will also introduce high-end industries including e-commerce, the financial industry and clothing design."

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese residents and tourists swarm to the Beijing Zoo Wholesale Market every weekend.

As reported by China Radio International, "All existing wholesale booths will be removed or merged in order to extend the management area, the authority added. The current wholesale market, first built in the 1980s, covers a business area of more than 300,000 square metres."

The shut down of the Beijing Zoo will mean that over 30,000 people will lose their jobs.